Garrard 301/401 owners club!

"The Garrard Story" is a new book published by the family of two key people who worked at Garrard, not only through the company's heyday, but virtually from its beginning to its end.

I received mine (a fully paid-for copy...I have no connection with the family other than through contact in Internet forums)...several days ago.

The book is a good read and easily worth the price. Few other big audio companies could have had their stories told by someone as close to the "action" through as much of company history as Garrard. Fortunately we have the memoirs of Edmund W. Mortimer, who assembled the very first Garrard and remained there until his retirement around 1970. By then his son Brian was a key Garrard employee, remaining until Garrard had been sold to the Brazilian company Gradiente, and he oversaw setting up production lines there (after which he was sacked by Gradiente). Both have a not inconsiderable literacy, which helps bring the company's story to life, from its small beginnings to its peak in 1974 and through its decline.

It's not all about Garrard's triumphs. The major role in Garrard's decline played by Plessey, the electronics conglomerate that bought Garrard as a cash cow but then starved it to death, is told of, too. Of great interest: a series of articles by Edmund Mortimer about Garrard electric motors, the 401 transcription turntable (both the 301 and 401 were Edmund Mortimer's original design), production of Autoslim-chassis record changers, the Lab 80 automatic transcription turntable, servicing of household and high quality record players, and the Synchro-Lab 95 auto turntable with its revolutionary induction/synchronous motor, patented by Garrard and licensed worldwide to Dual and the Asians.

The Garrard Story
by Edmund W. and Brian E. Mortimer
published by Karen (Mortimer) Eagle

http://thegarrardstory.strikingly.com/

TheGarrardStory_abxsqf.jpg
 
Anyone been fooling around with their tables? I have been thinking about building a new plinth for mine and maybe do a refresh of the table, powdercoat the chassis etc. It's about time for a make over.
 
"The Garrard Story" is a new book published by the family of two key people who worked at Garrard, not only through the company's heyday, but virtually from its beginning to its end.
I also bought a copy, but was a bit disappointed that there was little additional information on the 301 and 401, nor any coverage of their post-Garrard fame. Nothing about the legendary Japanese love for them, nor anything about Loricraft, for example. I get it that it's the Garrard company story, but their fame rests on the quality of their premium products.
 
For Garrard 301 or 401 owners: I have just built Nigel's Speed Controller, using a PCB designed by Lenco Heaven member Nigel. Full information is available on the Lenco Heaven site: http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=13981.0

It is designed for 240V or 115V line voltages which means you can run your Garrard in the US without having to replace your UK pulley. It was designed for Lenco idler drives, but works great with my Garrard. Depending on the cost of the case, it can be built for $150 all in (case, pcb, tested XR2206 chip, transformers and other components). My budget build came in at around 100 UKP. All the build information is available on the Lenco Heaven site, but if there is interest I can share my experience.
 
I'm a member and regular contributor at Lenco Heaven...though I have two Lencos, neither is currently in working condition (regular turntable: Garrard 301 with Rabco SL-8E linear tracking tonearm; secondary for 78s and automatic multi-play: Garrard Type A70; backup for main system when the 301 is out for periodic service: Garrard Lab 80) and haven't built Nigel's speed controller yet (I bought two circuit boards from his first issue). NOTE that after several runs of the circuit board, Nigel recently said that the current batch may be the last, probably because demand has fallen off. So if you are interested, think about getting one soon!

Hmm, not so many left now .... but they've gone quite slowly .... so I might not do another batch ..... maybe a good time to order?
 
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My first time to join and post. Just want to share my grease 301. I'm using two SME 3009. One with Shure V15 type iii and the other is an Audio Technica Mono cart. I did the plinth myself from old rustic wood. I hope the picture went through, else. i will repost. Thanks
 

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My first time to join and post. Just want to share my grease 301. I'm using two SME 3009. One with Shure V15 type iii and the other is an Audio Technica Mono cart. I did the plinth myself from old rustic wood. I hope the picture went through, else. i will repost. Thanks

Welcome to Audiokarma! :)
 
My first time to join and post. Just want to share my grease 301. I'm using two SME 3009. One with Shure V15 type iii and the other is an Audio Technica Mono cart. I did the plinth myself from old rustic wood. I hope the picture went through, else. i will repost. Thanks
Welcome!

Beautiful table and really funky plinth.
 
My first time to join and post. Just want to share my grease 301. I'm using two SME 3009. One with Shure V15 type iii and the other is an Audio Technica Mono cart. I did the plinth myself from old rustic wood. I hope the picture went through, else. i will repost. Thanks

Beautiful TT!
 
Gorgeous plinth, and also a way to increase the mass of the plinth without just making it a bigger and more obtrusive "block!"
 
Nice early grease cream 301 and quite the artsy plinth.

i didnt intend it that way. I just wanted the wood old design. initially i can think of ways how it'll look good on the picture. i just put a record on the left side to fill the spaces on the side. then I thought of putting the green lamp. exact fit. ha ha :)
 
Gorgeous plinth, and also a way to increase the mass of the plinth without just making it a bigger and more obtrusive "block!"

Thanks I also noticed that the bass improved after i put thin rubber blocks at the bottom of that big plinth, but for this oil-brearing 301 with smaller but heavy plinth, i was lucky to find a cone footer with rubber tip. Perfect :) A.jpg
 
Nice! Let us know how it sounds compared to what you're using now. Could you outline what was involved in your restoration process and any insights you may have discovered along the way?
Regards,
David
 
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